At first I thought my fish was just suffering from constipation, but now I’m thinking it’s something else entirely. His stomach is still very swollen, and I’ve noticed he’s having difficulty getting to the surface now. However, aside from the scales over his stomach ‘pineconing’ because his stomach is now so distended, there’s no other evidence that it’s dropsy.

Also, I’ve looked at him under my fish light, and noticed that the swelling is transparent looking, almost as if it is a sac of air rather than the usual appearance of constipation/dropsy. I’ve never seen anything like this before, and I’m not sure how to treat it. So far, he’s been fasted, dewormed twice, had Epsom salt added to his quarantine tank, fed a frozen pea, and fed frozen daphnia.

Unfortunately, none of this seems to have done anything. Could this be some kind bacterial infection? If so, what meds would be best to treat it? I’m not certain what brands are available here, but I don’t want to euthanize him until I have exhausted every option.

Edit: Thought I would note the fish I mentioned in my previous thread with dropsy, has now fully recovered. It ended up being a large internal worm load that was causing the pineconing.

Last edited by LittleBettaFish; 06-23-2011 at 06:49 PM.
Reason: Added more info.

It could be an abscess, so that would be a bacterial infection. Try Epsom Salt at 2tsp/gal plus an antibacterial medication like API Tetracycline, API Erythromycin or Maracyn & Maracyn II. Do daily 100% water changes. If you can increase the temp to 84*F that would help too. You want to reduce stresses as much as possible as well so if you can add IAL or Stress Coat that would be good. Good luck!

Yeah I figured it might be time to pick up some anti-bacterial medication . Interesting suggestion about some type of internal abscess. I hadn't thought about something like that being a possibility. Looks like I will have to pop down to the LFS and see what they have in stock.

Poor boy. He is one of my favourites, and I've only had him for 6 months or so.

Does the air sack appear to be separate from the the stomach/intestines or part of it?

He might be constipated and the air is "gas" :/ hard to say... But if he is showing any signs of Dropsy or constipation you should definitely use Epsom Salt. Using a med is up to you but I'd use one to be safe. If it is true bacterial dropsy or an abscess you are going to want to get on it asap...

I'll try and charge up my camera and get some photos. I can see the shadow of his internal organs, but they appear to be compressed around the air sac. I just looked at him then and noticed something (stringy poo or worm, not sure yet) protruding out from his anus, so I don't know if this means he is finally passing whatever was causing the issue. Fingers crossed it is all just a bad case of constipation and not something bacterial.

I intend to give him a more concentrated Epsom salt bath tomorrow or tonight before hitting him with medication.

If you have Epsom Salt on you know you should treat him with it. Wether its internal parasites, constipation, abscess or dropsy the Epsom will help. Just dissolve 1-2tsp/gal in dechlorinated water then add it to his tank. For the time being, make sure you perform a few extra water changes to keep his immune system up. Good luck and keep us posted!

I've tried him in the Epsom salt already at around 1tsp per gallon for three or so days. I think I'll give him a bath at a higher dose and see if I can draw any fluids out.

Anyways, here's some photos I took of him tonight. You can see how distended his stomach is, but his whole body isn't pineconing. Where his stomach has a yellowish hue, is where I think either the air or fluid is trapped.

Currently he's floating in a cup in his usual tank since I haven't got a spare heater on hand and he's having real difficulty maintaining balance.

That looks like possible tapeworms actually... Is he still eating?
I would try feeding him Jungle's Anti-Parasite Pellets and treating him with API Tetracycline, API Erythromycin OR Maracyn & Maracyn II. Continue the Epsom but up it to 2tsp/gal, it will help him expel parasites...

I haven't been feeding him at all since I thought until recently he was constipated. But he has never shown any loss of appetite, and up until about a day or so ago readily ate a fair amount of frozen daphnia.

Unfortunately, I think he might not survive through the night. He's started swimming in spirals (not sure if that's because of his swim bladder being compressed) and doesn't seem to be taking in what's going on around him.

However, I have dosed his temporary quarantine jug with a tapeworm and gill fluke tablet that contains Praziquantel as well as put in 2tsp per gallon of Epsom salt. If he is alive by tomorrow morning, I will be going down to my LFS and seeing what anti-bacterial medications they have in stock.